The missing pocket watch
by Orangecupcakes
Summary: Shad's pocket watch was a gift from his father and his most valuable possession, despite it being slow and old. Naturally when it's stolen Shad is distraught and only Link can help him, but neither expected that a missing watch would lead to them becoming more than friends.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own the Legend of Zelda

Shad always kept the old pocket watch with him, he even had it near him while he slept (no one knew about that of course, that was one of Shad's little secrets). It had been his father's and was well looked after, apart from a few dents. Its chain was missing and Shad had never found a suitable replacement for it. It seemed safe enough in his pocket. Shad made sure to polish it daily with great care and admired it with pride. It was never an expensive watch, it wasn't made of gold or silver, but to Shad it was the most priceless possession in the world. Hearing its gentle, if slightly slow, ticking always made him feel at ease, especially after his father died. It somehow felt as if his father was still with him. For that reason Shad refused to buy a new one, no matter how other people tried to convince him. So naturally when it went missing one fine morning, Shad was beyond distraught.

It had started off as a perfectly ordinary day for the young scholar. He got up early as usual and dressed, making sure to polish his watch until it shone. He poured over several of his books which were spread open on his desk, before remembering that he had promised his good friend, Link, the day before to have a day off from doing any research. With a sigh he got up from his desk.

"He doesn't know how hard it is for one who has devoted their life to studying to have a day off." He muttered to himself.

He didn't bother to tidy any of the books away, as a result his house was always in a slight mess with books and notes everywhere. He looked out the window in a moment of thought and decided to go for a walk as it was a nice day. This was his mistake.

Shad walked through the familiar and busy streets of castle town, with a book tucked under his arm. Things had felt a lot more peaceful since Link had defeated Ganon and saved Princess Zelda. Shad just wished he had done more to help. Link always insisted that he had helped greatly, in fact without Shad it would have been impossible for Link to succeed. However, as Shad had said when they first met, he lacked the physical skills to be truly useful in the hero's quest. Still, there was no denying that Shad was smart, even if his speech and use of long words that no one had ever heard of sometimes confused the hero. Shad's thoughts often involuntarily turned towards the boy in green. Shad just put this down to having a real friend for the first time. Growing up his only friend had been a book and childhood memories always pained him. It was better to adsorb himself in his research than to think of that dark and lonely time.

The thick thong of people walking up and down the cobbled streets paid no attention to Shad and he was too stuck in his own thoughts to notice them. He was so busy in his own world that he walked straight into a young boy. The boy looked like he had spent a lot of time on the streets; his clothes were dirty and he looked like he hadn't eaten properly in a long time.

Shad made sure that the boy was ok."Oh, my apologies I wasn't paying enough attention. Are you alright?"

"Yes mister. I can't stop, my mum's waiting." With that the boy ran off, leaving Shad to look after him curiously. He felt slightly concerned as well; the boy obviously came from a poor background and probably could have needed some kind of help. Trying to put the boy out of his mind, Shad continued on his way. His destination was Telma's bar, which was always popular among both the residents and the tourists of castle town. Shad didn't usually drink but he liked the atmosphere of the bar and Telma and the other members of the resistance were always happy to see him.

As he walked into the bar he was greeted with the familiar smells of alcohol, meat and Telma's perfume, but this wasn't unpleasant. In one corner, a strange looking man who Shad didn't know was staring tearfully at the bottom of his empty glass, muttering every now and again about the girl who had left him. In another corner the postman was crouched on the ground , studying a piece of paper while deciding what to order. He seemed to have to be everywhere at once, so it was a surprise that he had so much time to consider what to eat. Soldiers occupied most of the tables and stools in the bar and they were responsible for most of the noise, which could clearly be heard if you stood outside, even with the door shut. Louise was curled up elegantly on a stool, carefully observing all who entered the bar.

"Good morning, honey." Telma stood as always behind the counter, a motherly yet strong look about her. Behind her on shelves was rows of wine and other liquors as well as slabs of raw meat. As she moved to serve another drink the keys that she kept on her jacket jangled in a pleasant tune.

"Good morning Telma. I trust you are well?" Shad greeted her in his usual polite fashion.

"Of course honey. Now go take a seat and if you want anything just call me." She winked as he sat down on an isolated table on the other side of the bar where the members of the resistance usually sat. Shad didn't notice her wink though, if he had he would have blushed violently. He sat alone; the rest of the resistance weren't here. They weren't really needed any more since Hyrule had become peaceful, so Shad hadn't expected to see them. They were busy leading their own lives, although they still met at the bar occasionally. Settled comfortably in his chair, Shad opened his book to read. He became so absorbed that he didn't notice Link enter the bar and stand behind him. The young hero looked over the scholar's shoulder and still Shad didn't notice until Link finally spoke. "I thought you were going to have a day off?"

Startled, Shad jumped, making Link laugh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I can't believe you didn't notice me."

"Oh dear, it seems that I'm not noticing a lot today, old boy." Shad returned to his reading while Link took a seat beside him. "Also, this book is not for research purposes."

Link shook his head as he laughed again. "All your books look too much like hard work."

They sat in silence for a while, both content. After a while Link broke the silence. "Shad, what's the time?"

Shad looked up from his book. "I keep telling you that you should get a watch. Even a hero needs to be on time."

He reached into his jacket pocket, but as he did so his face fell and all the colour drained out of it. His fingers grabbed onto mere air; his pocket was empty.

Panic was clearly visible on Shad's face, making Link feel concerned. "Hey, Shad? Are you ok?" He placed a hand gently on Shad's arm, which Shad didn't seem to notice.

"My pocket watch...it's... it's gone." Panic was in his voice as well and for once he couldn't think straight.

Link tried his hardest to calm his friend down, using the same tone that he used for his beloved goats when they were upset. "It's ok, we'll find it. Don't worry."

Shad looked at the young hero gratefully. "You'll really help me find it?"

Link smiled. "Of course. Maybe we should start looking at your house though. That's an obvious place. We'll find it, Shad."

Nodding in agreement, Shad left the bar as fast as he could with Link just behind him. Both were determined to find Shad's precious pocket watch as soon as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own the Legend of Zelda

Shad's house was an average size but it seemed much smaller because it was filled with books. On every available surface Shad's research notes were spread open as well as various books. Finding anything among all this would be nearly impossible. This didn't deter Link though, who was determined to help his friend no matter what. He had never been in Shad's house before, he realised as they began their search. If he was truly honest with himself he felt a little excited to be in the scholar's home for the first time. It was a nice, if slightly cluttered, place.

"So...um I guess you ran out of shelves?" Link gestured to the piles of books on the floor and the full shelves against the wall, as they searched Shad's living room.

Shad pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Well...yes, I haven't gotten around to organising them better."

Link got down on his hands and knees to look under the sofa, but there was no sign of the watch. Nor was it to be found in (very small box room sized) study or the kitchen or bathroom (which, as Shad pointed out, was an unlikely place for it to be). After a couple of hours of looking they decided to take a break.  
As Link sat down while Shad made tea he noticed that one of the open notebooks on the table weren't written in Shad's familiar scrawl. He picked it up for a closer look as Shad came into the room with two steaming mugs.

"That was one of my father's. " Shad explained as he struggled to find a place to put the cups, before settling for a stable looking pile of books on the table. On top of coasters of course, he didn't want to risk making anymore tea stains.

"Oh." Link didn't really know what to say, he wasn't very good at being tactful. "When did he die?" This seemed to be the wrong question to ask as Shad seemed upset and turned away from Link for a moment.

"A few years ago. When I was 15." He said quietly.

Link put the book down and rose from his seat to stand beside Shad. He gently laid a hand on Shad's shoulder. "Sorry I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright, old boy."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment. Link didn't like the sad look in Shad's dark blue eyes, he missed their sparkle when Shad was talking about his beloved research. That gave Link an idea.

"Hey Shad, can you tell me about the sky beings again?" Shad had told Link about the many times, but he never got tired of talking about it and link was always more than happy to listen.

"Of course." Shad smiled. "I'm still so glad that you share my passion for the subject." There it was, the light that twinkled in Shad's eyes which Link loved so much (not that he'd ever tell anyone). Link watched as Shad became more excited as he spoke about his passion, paying more attention to the look on Shad's face than to what he was actually saying as they both sat down on his sofa. Shad was kinda cute when he got this excited (which was another thing which Link would never admit to anyone). Actually he should probably get around to telling Shad about Ooccoo, that would really excite him. Link smiled at the thought of Shad's joy of meeting the a real oocca.

"Link? Link!"

"Huh? Oh sorry." Link was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts. "I was just..er..thinking, about the sky beings."

Shad pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Well in that case I don't blame you."

"Maybe we should get back to looking for your watch though."

While Shad had another look in the living room, Link went out into the hallway and noticed a door that he hadn't been in yet. He pushed it open. Shad's bed was in one corner with an old looking bedside table next to it with an even older looking lamp. Link wondered for a moment if Shad would mind if he opened his wardrobe, just to take a quick look. He could after all pretend that he thought his pocket watch was in there. He reached his hand out towards the handle but then changed his mind and withdrew it quickly. Instead he turned to Shad's crowded bookshelf. There were many think, heavy looking books about many subjects, mostly history. Link smiled to himself as he thought about Shad browsing these books and settling down somewhere to read one, with that thoughtful look on his face. He had almost forgotten that he came into this room to search it and as he remembered this he stopped staring at the books and instead looked under Shad's bed. He couldn't see anything under there so he felt around with his hand. He felt something under the bed which he pulled out. At first Link thought it was just a regular book, until he opened the first page. It was a diary. Shad's diary. Link shut it quickly just before Shad came into the room.

"Any luck Li-" Shad stopped when he saw what Link was holding. He turned bright pink "My journal!...y..you didn't..."

"No! No, I didn't look at it, I promise." Link handed the diary to Shad, who looked at Link for a moment.

Shad took a moment to recompose himself. "Oh...I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

Link dismissed his apology with a wave of his hand. "It's ok, it's my fault." He had never intended on reading it, but there was part of him that secretly wanted to and that made him feel a little guilty.

"I think it's best if we just forget about it then." Shad sighed, looking as downcast as he felt. "I fear there's also little chance of us finding my father's pocket watch here. We have been looking for quite a while."

"Maybe you dropped it somewhere else. And we can ask around, see if someone's picked it up. It's not lose forever, I promise." Link really intended on keeping that promise. He imagined Shad's delight when he presented him with his watch. He knew how important it was to him and he just wanted to make Shad happy. Even if it meant looking through the whole of castle town to find what was dear to him.


End file.
